Keselowski Dominates Texas NNS Race

Brad Keselowski and the No. 22 Penske Racing car came up a winner again on Saturday. (RacinToday/HHP file photo by Harold Hinson)

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Brad Keselowski took the lead for the final time with 14 laps to go and went on to win Saturday’s ninth annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

The victory was the sixth of the year for the Penske Racing driver but his first at TMS. He led 105 of 200 laps.

“We have been really close but never finished it off but today we had the car to do it and the guys did a great job executing,” Keselowski, the defending Sprint Cup champion, said.

Denny Hamlin, driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, finished second.

Sam Hornish Jr., Keselowski’s teammate, recovered from a penalty to finish third. Series points leader Austin Dillon took fifth, so Hornish gained two points in the race and now trails by six points with two races remaining.

“It is a real good run to come back from being a lap down,” Hornish said. “It was a good strategy call to get us the wave around and we had to start at the back and then when we came down pit road the yellow came out and we had to go to the back of the lead lap cars. I am really proud of all the guys at Penske Racing and the work that they do, not only on the race cars but on the setups and things like that. I tried to stay calm and work my way back up there. We over tightened the car up when we got back to the very end and it just didn’t happen. I didn’t have anything for Brad or Denny at the end. We had an opportunity to make it three wide for the lead there but I thought better of it.”

Matt Kenseth finished fourth.

Hornish Jr. hit the cone on his first pit stop, which is a commitment line violation. He served a pass-through penalty and came out 17th and one lap down, although he gained that lap back on the first caution of the day (Lap 70) by not pitting.